


When I first heard I cried, because I'd always wanted a sister

by Legs (InsanityRule)



Category: Silicon Valley (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M, relevant to Silver Paint, this is entrenched in like three different sets of headcanons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-08-08 09:58:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7753198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsanityRule/pseuds/Legs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Queue up it's a small world, sprinkle in a bit of sassy Tara, and there you have it. Nelson's feeling stressed and gets a private massage, and the masseuse has a few connections he didn't expect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When I first heard I cried, because I'd always wanted a sister

**Author's Note:**

> What you need to know:  
> Niche fic right here.  
> This follows the events of Silver Paint.  
> Nelson and Gavin are in a two-hat, co-CIO situation.

It isn't until he spills his Big Gulp a third time that Nelson is starting to think he's more stressed than usual. And sure, there's been a lot going on at Hooli; he's been giving motivational talks at least  _ twice a day _ to try and get the XYZ team excited about CES. He's pretty sure he fucked up the last time but honestly once he starts talking to them his ears always seem to shut off.

Maybe that's a stress response. He should get someone to look that up someday.

But he has a lot of work to do today; he can't just leave whenever he wants. Well he can, and does, but he promised Gavin he would at least  _ try  _ to stay at work during the normal business hours unless absolutely necessary. He might as well stick around and tough it out until the end of the workday.

Realistically he could take a nap in his office, lock his door and chock it up to a meeting, and it’s a great idea in theory, but when he lies down on the giant Luvsac in the corner he can't keep his eyes closed long enough to fall asleep. His legs feel all tingly. Not great.

He's just a bit of a mess right now he’ll get over it soon. Probably.

Nelson pulls out his phone and taps on his recent calls, selecting the small circle with Gavin's face. "Hey, yeah, can you come up to the office? Need your opinion on something."

It doesn't take long for Gavin to come storming in with a purpose. "Nelson we're  _ three days _ behind already I don't have time for this right now. Whatever XYZ has melted can be replaced, you just need to submit that P Card request I showed you last month."

"Yeah, I know that's cool but, when you were the only CIO, what did you do to relax?"

Gavin pinches the bridge of his nose. "And this couldn't be done over...? Never mind." He drops his hand and crosses his arms. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I keep spilling my drinks on myself, I've run out of clean clothes I keep in my office, my assistant guy is tired of having to refill my soda, and my legs are tingling."

"They’re  _ tingling _ ?"

"I think I'm stressed out or something, so I figured you would have some ideas?"

Gavin nods, looking smug (Well looking like he has an idea but those are pretty much identical). "I recommend you try some more yoga, or take a stint in the meditation room here on campus."

"Okay but yoga sucks that is not relaxing. And I already tried taking a nap."

"The meditation room is for  _ meditation, _ Nelson." He sighs. "And we're not getting into it about yoga again. It's a practice, you can always improve." Nelson raises a hand, intent on interrupting, but Gavin presses on. "And before you suggest it I do not have time to cater to your physical needs myself."

Nelson flops back into the Luvsac and groans. "Then what am I supposed to do?"

Gavin rubs his chin. "Give me about ten minutes, I need to rip these fuckers a new asshole about time management."

Nelson stares up at his office ceiling after Gavin leaves. Maybe some music will help. "Play Modest Mouse."

" _ Playing,  _ Goddess House _. Track not found. _ "

"Goddamnit."

\--

Nelson's put on his headphones, having given up on the stupid voice command almost immediately, and doesn't notice Gavin entering his office until he's standing by his feet. He lifts up one side of his headphones. "Oh, hey."

"Hello. I have a solution for you."

"Really? Awesome." Nelson struggles out of the Luvsac and tosses his headphones onto the nearby desk. "Say can we fix the stupid voice thing in here too? I wanted to listen to my-"

"Nelson." Nelson stops talking. "You're getting a massage."

"A what now?"

"You're stressed, and you mentioned a tingling in your legs. Since your body has no idea what exercise is your muscles are probably tense from the yoga. I've found someone highly rated by a few of my associates, and they have an available time slot for this afternoon."

"Uh huh, okay. Is it a guy or a girl?"

"A Woman. Does that really matter? They're giving you a massage. They might as well be a pair of arms floating around."

"Okay but the idea of a massage is being naked right? What if I get a boner?"

Gavin looks very pained. And like he's not all that surprised to hear this kind of question. "You'll be  _ fine _ . And who the fuck cares? They should be  _ honored  _ if you do."

"We are not seeing this from the same stance at all." He's feeling more nervous than before.

"Just go to my mansion and get your massage. I'm sure if you really want you don't  _ have  _ to undress." Gavin hands Nelson a piece of paper and, after a quick glance around the office, kisses him. "You can probably take the afternoon off if you like."

"Yeah okay." He tugs Gavin down for another kiss. "If I get a boner I'm never leaving the house again."

"Stop being so damn dramatic. It's an  _ erection _ , not a fucking deformity."

\--

Nelson steps out of his taxi and up the well maintained walkway leading up to Gavin's porch. He considers going inside for a snack, but it's pretty likely that he'll get lost on the way, it happens every time, and he doesn't want to make his massage therapist wait. There's a rocking chair offset in a small alcove, he makes fun of Gavin for his old man chair whenever he gets the chance, but it is comfortable so he settles into the chair to wait.

And of course he falls asleep this time. He startles awake when a car door shuts and a woman with wavy brown hair walks up to the porch. She smiles and holds out a hand. "Hi, I'm Tara."

Nelson scrambles up out of the chair and shakes her hand. "Nelson."

"Ready for your massage?"

"Yeah uh, let's go inside." He struggles with the locks for a little, praying he won't set off security this time, and sighing in relief when nothing starts screaming at him as he opens the door. "Where're we supposed to do this?"

"Wherever you want. This is a private massage, so pick a place you're comfortable and I'll get us set up."

He vaguely remembers Gavin saying something about a massage table but he has no idea where it is. "I'll be right back."

Nelson locks himself in a bathroom and calls Gavin. "Hey so you have a table?"

Gavin sighs quietly. He must be with the team. "Go to the meditation room and it's the door to the right. The windows open if you want some fresh air. For the love of God don't get this poor woman  _ lost  _ in my fucking house."

"Right I can manage that. See you later." He hopes he can keep Tara from getting lost. He leaves the bathroom and returns to the foyer. "Okay so there's actually a table upstairs so..." Nelson points over his shoulder and starts walking.

"Perfect. I have my body oil and lotion with me." She holds out a small tote and falls in line with Nelson. "Do you have any allergies? Some of the oils have nut extracts."

"Not that I know of." _ Please let this be the right way. _ "Should be up these stairs."

"Should?"

"It's my boyfriend's place and I get lost like, every day." _ Go up at the two colored Rothko, right at the three, or is it the other way around? _ "Here's hoping."

When he sees a familiar door he sighs. "Thank god."

She giggles. "Were you worried?"

"Naw, no way." He opens the door to the right of the meditation room and reveals a massage table in the center of a room. On the far wall there are giant windows facing the gardens with gauzy, flowy curtains filtering the afternoon sun. "Holy shit.  _ Why  _ didn’t I know this was here?"

"Oooh, this is perfect. I'm going to get familiar with some of the incense," she points to a far table, "you dress down to your comfort level and get under the sheet."

"Right." Nelson fidgets while she crosses the room. "So when you say comfort level?"

"Usually people go down to their underwear, or nude. You should probably remove your shirt so I can do your back, but it's completely up to you. You could stay like this if you like."

"Okay, sure." He takes off his glasses and leaves them on a small shelf. Then he strips down to his underwear and he's not sure he's comfortable, but he slips under the sheet and settles on his stomach.  _ Okay, this isn't so bad. _ "I'm ready I think."

"Alright." He watches her gently twist her hair into a single tail and clip it back with one of those claw grabby clip things. "Head down in this here," she pats the round pillow thing with a hole in it, "and we'll get started."

He takes a deep breath and smells something, flowers maybe, probably the incense. Tara starts some calming music, or at least it seems like it should be calming. It sounds like a forest, or water, and yeah, he can get behind this whole relaxing music thing.

"Try not to move your shoulders, I'll start there." He can hear a lid open and hands start rubbing his shoulders. Nelson closes his eyes. "How is this for pressure? Too hard?"

"It's fine," Nelson sighs. Maybe he was too tense. He’s pretty sure muscles shouldn’t make that noise but Tara doesn’t seem worried so he’s going to pretend it’s normal.

Something tweets off to the side. "I am so sorry, I thought I silenced my phone."

"It's cool." She hurries over and stops the sound. "I've gotten lots of dumb calls at work when I shouldn't even have my phone. No big deal."

"It's not very professional of me." She sounds unhappy. "Damn, okay. Back to your shoulders."

She's massaging harder, and by harder Nelson means he’s pretty sure he’s going to bruise. "Too hard," he croaks, and she lets up. "That's better. Bad message?"

"It's just my fiance making an excuse. We were supposed to look at decorations today." Nelson hums. "Sorry, I shouldn't unload on you."

"No it's cool. I was freaked out I would get like, aroused or something so it's a good distraction." She laughs. "We're both going to pretend I didn't say that right?"

"Or course." She's still giggling. Holy crap she's adorable. "So you're sure you don't mind?"

"Lay it on me."

"Okay," she starts rubbing his arms and he is going to melt through this table, "well we're getting married but he keeps telling me he has to help out with his friend’s job. Which is important, I know, but I just want another opinion."

"Makes sense." He's starting to feel kind of tired, maybe he'll fall asleep. "Outside opinion, right?"

"Exactly. Are you opposed to a buttocks massage?"

"A what?"

"Your ass."

"Oh, go for it." Well that's a weird massage but whatever. Actually it's helping out. He'd forgotten about that whole, 'I pulled a muscle in my ass thing' but maybe this'll help. She continues down his legs.

"Your legs are really tense."

"Yeah, probably." He cracks his toes. "I started yoga but I suck at it."

"Yoga is so relaxing." Nelson laughs. "I think so. Usually I go to cardio dance though. It's very fun."

"I'd rather just sit on my butt."

"Sounds familiar."

She starts on his feet but he's too ticklish. He laughs, and tries to hide that with a question, which he’s certain isn’t successful. "So you're getting married?"

"Yes, in about four months. I still need a dress, and the decorations finalized. Thankfully we have a venue and food worked out."

"I went with my cousin when she got a dress. She wanted opinions, so I'm not sure why she invited me." He laughs. "I don't know  _ anything  _ about weddings."

Tara starts working on his calves and he sighs. "Feel good?" He nods. "Were you any help with the dress?"

"Not even a little bit. I fell asleep while she was in the dressing room. Those places should not make their couches so comfortable." She's chuckling. "But I guess she already knew what kind of dress she wanted. I was their comedic relief."

"And how did you manage that?"

"Oh I tripped and knocked over a whole row of mannequins in super fancy dresses." He settles in as Tara begins rubbing his scalp. "So that worked. And they put barrettes in my hair when I was asleep. Didn't notice until we were home. We went a lot of places that day. Wasn’t a big deal though."

"You weren't embarrassed?"

"Naw, it wasn't really big or a bow or anything, just colored clip things."

"Can you roll to your back?" She holds the sheets up and he rolls. Tara begins working on his shoulders again. "I should force people to come along with me. Making all these decisions is exhausting."

"I'm off the whole rest of the day."

"Oh you don't have to do that. I'm a big girl, I can manage."

"Well yeah sure, but I don't have any plans. I was just going to take the day off after this." And nap, but honestly this feels like he's already asleep. "Decorating's easy right? You just have to remember your high school prom and do the opposite."

"Ha, that's actually decent advice." She starts rubbing his face, not something he thought he would be comfortable with but it's pretty nice. "I'm not going to force you, but I won't stop you either."

"Cool. And I won't fall asleep in the car on the way."

-

He fell asleep. But it's not his fault that massage was really relaxing.

“Okay, so, five words or less, what is your theme?”

“I’m a satanist.”

“O-oh,” and all of Nelson’s helpfulness has flown out the window. “So, like, I’m going to be honest here I’m kind of out of my element with that. Is it anything like Buddhism?”

“Not really,” she laughs, “but don’t worry, you’re here so I can insist I’m not planning a funeral.”

“Uh,” Nelson follows Tara into a store he would classify as a ‘wedding store’ but Tara ignores all the bright happy looking colors, except for red but he has a feeling that’s not because of roses or anything, and hones in on a lot of dark colors like black and gray and a chocolate brown. “So, is this at a graveyard or something?”

“No, well I guess normally the group meets at a community center, but we’re just doing it in a backyard.”

“Oh, that’s cool,” he holds out his arms when Tara starts trying to hand him packs of napkins. “So like, super small?”

“Yeah, GIlfoyle’s not really a people person.”

He stops walking. “Wait, what? Gilfoyle?”

“It's his last name but no one calls him Bertram. He  _ hates  _ it.”

“Huh, I lived with a guy called Gilfoyle.”

“Really?”

“Yeah we lived in this like, hostel, basically. Yeah this dude let people live with him if they had an app or whatever, and… what?”

Tara, who started laughing when he mentioned the hostel, calms down and explains. “Are you talking about Erlich Bachmann?”

He laughs. “Shit, is this the same Gilfoyle?”

She laughs again and adds some cups to Nelson's arms, “that is  _ too  _ crazy. You lived with Erlich?”

“Yep, but uh… he's kind of an ass sometimes.”

“Oh good, I thought it was just me.”

_ Same _ , he thinks. “Have I got some stories for you.”

They shoot the shit, badmouth Erlich a bit but conclude he's okay in small doses, and share tons of embarrassing moments about the Pied Piper's guys from their respective pasts.

Time passes quickly, and Nelson's arms become overloaded with decorations and supplies. He takes an opportunity to snag a cart when he finds an empty one unattended, and they both scurry away when someone rounds the corner, obviously looking for their missing cart. Nelson can't help but giggle, she's like a long lost sister. They're going to end up arrested if things get any more out of hand.

But things settle, and decorations are stashed in Tara's car, and just as Nelson starts giving her directions she turns into a dress shop, and he quiets. His cousin is cool, but now that they're adults they aren't really as close as they used to be, so it didn't feel like a big deal to help her get a dress. But helping Tara now does, in a way. He doesn't want to fuck up a friendship he's just managed to make.

“Do wedding dresses come in black?”

“I was thinking gray, but we'll have to see what we can find.”

“What if you like, dyed a white one?” He feels himself shrinking away from mannequins to avoid a repeat performance of last time. “You can do that, right?”

“Probably not with lace.” She gently runs a finger over the top part of a dress. “This bodice is nice.”

“Okay, first question, what the heck is a bodice?”

-

He learns  _ way  _ more terminology than he ever thought he'd need to know about dresses, understands what a corset top is and what it's supposed to do, and only knocks over one dress while he's helping dig through a bunch of racks of gray and black dresses. He never expected there to actually be  _ options _ , but Tara describes what she's looking for and Nelson does his best to provide moral support because he's no good at the actual decision making but he's  _ great  _ at sitting on his butt and complementing people.

“So, not that I'm not having fun or anything, but I'm pretty sure people usually invite family to this sort of thing.”

“I'm from Boston.”

“Okay… so no weekend trip for them?”

“Let me put it this way,” she twirls a bit to watch the skirts flow and nods to herself, “imagine you brought Gilfoyle home to your family.”

“Actually, that kind of covers it I think.”

“Oh good. I mean, he's wonderful, but you know how he is, right?”

“Yeah,” he knows how  _ abrasive  _ Gilfoyle can be to the people he  _ likes _ . He can't imagine people he doesn't get along with.

“But that's okay, because we're inviting the people we care about, and that includes you too, so you better get yourself a suit.”

As if Gavin hasn't already covered that like, ten times over. “Cool. I don't know if I would've gotten invited if it was just Gilfoyle’s say.”

“Well it's my say too, and I say you're in.”

-

He goes back to Gavin's once Tara is done with her shopping, and he saunters in with one goal in mind, sleep. Okay two goals because he's also kind of hungry.

“Gavin?” He doesn't try very hard and instead begins raiding the fridge. Gavin will find him eventually.

Eventually is about two minutes into an omelette and some bacon, and Gavin slides into one of the stools at the island counter. “You're looking less stressed.”

“Yeah, good call on the massage. Helped a lot.”

“I expected to find you here after work.”

“Oh. Sorry, forgot to warn you. Tara and I went shopping for her wedding. Took awhile.”

“Tara?”

“Yup, she's marrying Gilfoyle, actually. One of Richard's friends. Sort of my friend. I got invited.” Gavin gets quiet. “What?”

“Who is Tara?”

“Uh… well she's the person that gave me a massage, and we hit it off I guess. Oh my god you're jealous aren't you.”

“I'm most definitely  _ not  _ jealous. There are  _ dozens  _ of things I would rather do instead of going  _ shopping _ .”

“Okay. But dude, you're doing the pout thing-”

“I don't  _ pout _ .”

“You totally do but that's not important. She's a  _ friend _ , and if you want we can go to lunch or whatever if you want to meet her. Haven't you ever like, just  _ clicked  _ with someone?”

“You.”

“Thanks,” he smiles. “but I mean a  _ friend _ , Gavin. Just a friend. Someone you  _ wouldn't  _ date, but you wanna spend time doing shit with them.”

“No, I'm fairly certain I haven't. I don't have a lot of free time or overlapping interests with the general public. Most people are more trouble than they're worth. Present company excluded if that wasn't clear.”

“Oh.” Well that makes a lot of sense. “Well. I think you'll like her, so we should have lunch sometime with her. Who knows, maybe you two can bond over ragging on Erlich.”


End file.
